Cook Islands

As of this morning there had been 676 cases in the Cooks, with 206 having recovered and 470 still active.

The vast majority of these cases have been on Rarotonga, with several on Aitutaki.

The Prime Minister, Mark Brown, says while none of the Covid-19 victims in the country have needed hospital treatment, one case does have moderate symptoms.

He said this person is being supported by Te Marae Ora and other government agencies.

Mr Brown also said there are 14 active cases aged 70 or over and these people are also being closely monitored.

The case is an Aitutaki resident, and the person is isolating at home.

Household contacts are currently being identified and are asked to quarantine.

Like Rarotonga, the population on Aitutaki is highly vaccinated and Prime Minister Mark Brown said they are prepared for this.

Over the weekend 24 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 130.

R-A-T tests will be used to diagnose new cases in the Cook Islands as is occurring in New Zealand.

No additional PCR test will be required except for clinical reasons.

The Rarotongan Beach Resort and Lagoonarium, typically welcomes a few hundred Russian guests a year, but over the weekend this message appeared on its social media pages - 'With regret, Russians are banned from our hotels until every single Russian soldier has left Ukraine.'

The post has since been deleted but Tata Crocombe said he stands by his decision despite critics calling it 'discriminatory'.

However, Crocombe said the resort ban would eventually be softened to only apply to Russian citizens who support Vladimir Putin's war.

Prime Minister Mark Brown said this case was not connected to the visitor who tested positive for Omicron after leaving Rarotonga and arriving back in New Zealand last Monday.

He said this person - who is currently isolated and under observation at their private holiday accommodation - arrived in Rarotonga last Thursday.

They were a close contact of a family member in Auckland who tested positive on Sunday in New Zealand.

Brown said as a precaution this person got tested, and was asymptomatic, but she returned a positive result in just a few hours later.

The national team was scheduled to play Tonga in the qualifiers match for a place in the group stage of the competition.

The Cook Islands will now get a chance to play against Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.

Yesterday strong gusts and heavy rain battered Rarotonga, with sea surges flooding low lying areas and inundating roads with debris.

Cook Islands Meteorological Service Director Arona Ngari said it will be a significant clean up operation.

"It has been a long week or so for us, but things have abated, so just waiting for another two three days for the whole momentum of the system to calm down. No major damage apart from coastal inundation, mostly from the waves. A bit of flooding last night and the day before from the rainfall," he said.

Four community cases reported in New Zealand overnight, including an Auckland hospital worker, brings the total to five.

Cases are all linked to Tuesday's first case in Auckland, which is confirmed as the Delta variant.

"While the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated, we must act swiftly here to minimize exposure risk for the Cook Islands so we remain safe," said prime minister Brown.

It was the Cook Islands who opened the scoring with a penalty through halfback Tokahirere Sopoaga to get a 3-0 lead.

The first quarter of the match was dominated by basic errors, and with the Kuki's line speed adding some pressure, it took 19 minutes before 'Ikale Tahi started to find some momentum.

Tonga's front row was crucial to their performance, creating opportunities to hold the ball in the scrum.

It was only three weeks ago that 'Ikale Tahi lock Semisi Paea and Cook Islands centre Junior Raia were lining up alongside each other for Ngongotaha in the Bay of Plenty club competition.

Today both players will make their test match debut, but in different colours.

The 22 year old Paea was first called into the Tongan squad in the lead-up to their test against the All Blacks earlier this month and was surprised head coach Toutai Kefu even knew who he was.

The team was edged 31-24 by Tasman two weeks ago, in their first competitive match in three years, and outclassed 73-0 by the New Zealand Under-20s side on Saturday.

Meanwhile, an understrength 'Ikale Tahi suffered back-to-back defeats against Manu Samoa in their World Cup qualifier.

Cook Islands coach Nathan Robinson is a former Cook Islands international himself and said the squad has come a long way in the last few weeks.

"The cohesion has been really really good from day one," he said.